Broken Heart - AshxEiji

Chapter 18 - The Aftermath

I just wanted to say thank you all so much for 1000 reads, holy crap that's a lot. Anyways, I really appreciate it so in return have this little one-shot (takes place after the main story but before the epilogue)

TW's include talk of self-harm and scars.

The air was crisp as the sun set behind the horizon, the last remnants of the once bright yellow sun still shining on the two that remained in its view. There was silence between them though unlike most that would've been tense and awkward this one was filled with a sense of comfort and peace. The old bench they sat on creaked under the weight though the boy's paid no attention as they gazed at the growing cherry blossoms that were growing from one of the many trees. The two had found this spot not long ago after their move from one of the busiest cities in the States to a much more secluded part of a once foreign country.

"Hey Eiji," The blonde asked, trying to keep his tone cool despite the urgency in his voice. The boy in question looked over, seemingly surprised by the other one's sudden speech, "Yes?" He replied as more of a question then anything. "Please don't take this the wrong way," He paused, drawing in a deep breath as he mentally prepared himself, "I need to see your wrists." And Eiji froze. It had taken him a long time to come to terms with the hell he had been faced with, even now he was still picking up the pieces of the person he once was. So, this, the thing that had featured in his nightmares when they weren't drawn to his time in America, was not a welcome conversation. "W-what do you mean?" He asked, cursing the small stutter as his anxiety grew. Ash's gaze turned cold as he calculated the older boy, "You know what I mean Eiji."

Eiji flinched under the stare, it had been a long time since that face was pointed in his direction despite this the boy noticed concern hidden under the hard exterior that was Ash. So, with new-found confidence, he responded, "I'll show you, just please don't get mad." The blonde recoiled; how could he ever get mad at Eiji? The one person who was there for him throughout his roughest point, the person who helped him become the person he was today. "I promise I won't be mad; I just need to know." His voice came out more of a plea then he had originally planned it to be, so unlike the once stone-cold façade he had placed around him not so long ago. Very carefully he watched as Eiji slowly lifted his sleeve, nothing could have prepared him for the sight that lay underneath.

The once perfectly clean skin was now rattled with scars, his wrists still held the remnants of deep rope burns from his brief captivity. Higher up the arm lay a large white scar that ran from his bicep to right before his wrist. Though the most frightening of all was the assortment of scars, both white and purple, that lay in lines along his forearm and inner wrist. Some appeared to have been deeper than others though all of them were healed, now telling a story of the boy's journey, how he survived despite everything.

As soon as Ash took in each and every scar just on one arm his emotions won out as he hesitantly leaned down to the wrist still revealed. He slowly and gently placed a kiss over a number of the scars before moving down and placing one more on the largest of them. He took the next moment to look into Eiji's face as he stared wide-eyed down at the blonde, his breathe still caught in his chest as he processed what had just happened. Though he had never wanted to show anyone the scars that lay beneath his smile he couldn't have been happier in that moment. All the pain, all the suffering seemed irrelevant at that moment as he leaned towards the younger boy whose head was still close to his arm though his eyes were staring into his.

He made a shaky smile as the happiness finally caught up with him before his breath was once again taken away. In the moment before Ash had leaned close to Eiji, locking their lips in the next second before he could second-guess his decision. The kiss started out slow, neither knowing exactly what the other wanted, though that soon changed as the look on their faces gave away everything. In the next moment the kiss became more passionate yet still gentle as they enjoyed the others taste, enjoyed simply being around the other. In that moment they knew, they both knew that they wanted to spend the rest of their lives together, they wanted to be happy together.

Well, that concludes this one-shot sort of thing, I hope you all enjoyed. I will probably do this sort of thing at random intervals as new ideas come to me (also I thought of this because I completely forgot I added anything relating to this in the story so here's the sort of wrap up for that part)

Also, also, @gons_missing_dad I hope that satisfied your needs 